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The Cosmos: A Universe Preparing for War

Reticle Cold War is set in the Legends of Cypher universe. Learn about its history and the current stakes.

The Current Situation (11,096 CE)​

Humanity spans thousands of worlds. The Metric—a sentient AI—monitors, scores, and guides trillions of beings toward stability and collective prosperity. The Centopoly, a corporatocracy of 100 strategic worlds, dominates civilized space.

Then, everything changed.

Cypher Primed

An entity known as Hash released Cypher—the first and only technology capable of disrupting Metric functionality. For 2.54 seconds at a time, Cypher creates blind spots in an otherwise omniscient system.

In the wake of Cypher's release, Cosmos and Reticle powers, long dormant, or operating in the shadows, decided the time was right to emerge. Now, although the Metric is still omnipresent and largely unstoppable, a cold war has erupted, a silent, often clandestine battle to — for the first time in millenia — seize the unknowable future.

The Reticle Cold War has begun.

The Reticle​

The Reticle is a Cosmos-wide virtual environment predating the Centopoly itself:

  • Communication network connecting star systems
  • Simulation platform for exploring scenarios
  • Home Many civilizations have emerged within the Reticle, with varying degrees of awareness that they are living in a simulation
  • Battlefield where the Cold War is fought

Reticle Zones:

Zone TypeDescription
Deep NetworksAncient restricted zones with mysterious origins
Archived SectorsSupposedly abandoned, but populated by independent AIs and various Reticle-native civilizations
Combat ZonesActive battlefields for territorial control
Common ZonesAccessible areas affiliated with physical planets

The Metric monitors and dominates the Reticle, constantly monitoring activity.

The Cold War​

The conflict operates on multiple fronts:

Territorial Combat: Six sub-factions battle for virtual territories across Combat Zones. Control provides computational resources, intelligence streams, and strategic positioning.

Information Warfare: Hacking, infiltration, and data manipulation. The truth itself becomes contested.

Simulation Warfare: Participants conduct simulations of ancient battles to understand past secrets.

The Stakes: If Cypher succeeds in disrupting the Metric, humanity returns to self-determination—with all its risks. If the Centopoly suppresses Cypher, the Metric will continue to dominate.

The Approaching Conclave​

In about four years, the Conclave will evaluate all 235 Candidate Worlds:

  • High-scoring planets join the Centopoly (gaining Bridge Technology)
  • Underperforming Centopoly worlds face demotion
  • Political maneuvering intensifies as the date approaches

This creates desperate competition and unprecedented instability.

Your Position​

As an Echo Collective operative, you navigate this conflict from declared neutrality. But neutrality in a cold war is itself a political position.

Your choices will determine:

  • Your alignment (pro- or anti-Centopoly)
  • Which factions trust you
  • How the balance of power shifts

The Cosmos watches. Your operations matter.

Learn More​